Remembering a real shepherd

KELLY L. NIEBEL

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, March 31, 2004

"He was a real shepherd to his people and a kind and gentle man. Rather than using his authority to his own power, he really came to serve his people," said Fr. Gerald Kukla of Our Lady of Lake Huron Catholic Church in Harbor Beach. "When he came he said, 'My name is Ken, and I've come to be your waiter for a long time.' He was just a magnificent person in every aspect."

Untener, who died at the age of 66 Saturday due to complications from leukemia, had announced only in February he was starting treatment for myelodysplasic syndrome, a condition where the bone marrow doesn't produce blood. A funeral mass was celebrated at 11 a.m. today at St. Stephen Church, 2711 Mackinaw St., Saginaw. Untener was buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Saginaw.

"He was one of the most personable people you would ever want to meet. He was available to anyone. He was very down to earth - he didn't put up any pretenses," said Fr. James Carlson of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bad Axe. "Among his gifts, he was one great communicator and teacher. He had the ability to say incredibly deep things in simple words - a true gift, and he had it, he had it very, very much."

That gift of communication might not be more evident than at key liturgical seasons when the prayer books Untener created were distributed. They are prayer books, says Fr. Ken Yaroch of St. Roch's Catholic Church in Caseville, that now are in every corner of the earth.

"He was a little man with a big heart and a big soul and a generous spirit," Yaroch said. "I feel his forte was lecturing, preaching, teaching and this type of thing. It's hard to sum up an individual's impact on an entire diocese, but he was a bishop at a transitional time in the church. He took us through a lot of change that followed the Second Vatican Council."

Carlson agreed Untener's impact was tremendous.

"I believe he taught us as Catholics what it means to be the church, not just to go to church," Carlson said. "He was just a wonderful man. He died much too early. We have been blessed as a diocese to have had him for 24 years."

Sister Theresa Fox, pastoral administrator of St. Francis Borgia Catholic Church in Pigeon, said Untener was a "real shepherd of his people" and had great vision for the diocese and what its parishioners needed.

"He encouraged people to use their talents, and that's one of the reasons why I'm here. One of the things that was very important to him was that parishes remain intact. He didn't want to close any. He tried to find alternative ways to deal with the few number of priests," she said, noting that when she arrived there were six or seven pastoral administrators in the diocese and now there are 16 pastoring 20 parishes. "It was a way for those communities to stay together as a parish. The bishop had the desire to keep those small communities together, and we know how important that is, especially in rural areas."

Kukla, who was a young priest when Untener came to the diocese as its bishop, said Untener never lost sight of his purpose.

"He took very seriously the fact that he was called to be a shepherd of the people to truly lead them in a loving, gentle type of way. He came among them as a true servant of the Lord," he said. "He was extraordinary. He never fit the picture of a bishop that I had had before. For me, it has been a real blessing to serve with him and be one of his priests."

Among Untener's many talents was his ability to communicate and connect with people on a very real and human level.

"He could talk about God in very ordinary language and wasn't afraid to talk about God," Fox said. "He could talk about profound things in very simple language, and it has to come from the heart in order to do that."

Fox said Untener had a great love for life.

"He could talk about sports and talk about God, and flow from one thing to another. He played golf and was involved in a lot of very ordinary life things," she said. "He knew how to integrate the holy with the secular, and I think that's shown in the little books he produced. In them he pours out his spirituality and his desire for people of the diocese to pray together, to study scripture together, and he did that in very ordinary language."

"I think that his greatest strength lied in the fact that he had a sense of humor which kind of lifted the burden of the day," Yaroch said.

Yaroch recalled how Untener never read the scriptures, rather "he always recited them."

Kukla said Untener used the many gifts God gave him to the benefit of others.

"God gifted him, and he shared generously those gifts with people. Whether it was teaching or preaching, or his intermingling with people, God gifted him in a very special way, and he used that gift for the benefit of the people that God entrusted him to," he said. "I wish in my life I had the courage he did. He did overcome a number of things in his life, and he never hesitated using the talent that God gave him. What he may have been deprived of physically in some ways, he made up for in other ways."

Carlson said those gifts were a shining beacon during his illness.

"He kept saying, 'I'm thinking about you," he said about his bishop and his friend. "He was a very holy man and spiritual man. We have been gifted - a remarkable gift, and that I'm trying to find hope and consolation in."

Fox said she will miss very much this bishop who was "never long winded preaching - he came right to the point, but he always had a point for all that he had to say." And she will miss this man who had a great sense of humor and could play the piano beautifully - even without sheet music.

"I will miss him very much. He was probably one of the finest persons I have known," she said. "I have worked under seven bishops, and he would be my choice as to an ideal bishop to work for."

Carlson said the Catholic parishes of Huron County will be hosting a bone marrow donor drive in honor of Untener in the near future. It is something concrete they can do in his memory and as they move forward.

"I as a Christian, like every Christian does, believes in death life is not ended, but changed," he said. "I believe he is living in peace and joy and love with God. I think he's just going to continue to guide us and make us a better church. That's what I share with my people and deeply believe."

There will be a memorial mass Friday evening at OLLH for Untener as parishioners deal with this loss. For Kukla, it is "one of the greatest losses of my life."

"I truly believe he is with God and now he will care for us in a very special way. I guess our prayer right now is that God bless the people of the diocese of Saginaw with a successor that will follow in the same mold of Bishop Untener. He's going to be missed, there's no getting around that, not just as a bishop, but as a friend."